North Carolina, ranked No. 13 in the nation when the NCAA tournament started, scored three goals in the second half to beat Penn State 4-1 Sunday in San Diego for its latest championship.

The Tar Heels (15-5-3), making their 26th appearance in the final four College Cup, won the title for the first time since 2009.

“The classic question is, always, does it ever get old?” said Dorrance, who has coached the program since its inception in 1979. “Well, honestly, it gets better. This was really a lot of fun for me … This is one of those years that it was a chemistry miracle.”

Penn State (21-4-2) was competing in its first title match.

With the score tied at 1, Hanna Gardner scored 48 seconds into the second half when she converted Katie Bowen’s corner kick with a header past Penn State goalkeeper Erin McNulty.

North Carolina’s Kealia Ohai scored in the second minute of the match; she was voted the tournament’s most outstanding player on offense.

Baseball

Shortstop Smith’s Gold Gloves

bring $519,203 at auction

Ozzie Smith turned gold into cash.

The Hall of Fame shortstop sold his 13 consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1980 to 1992 for $519,203, SCP Auctions officials said. The prices include a 20 percent commission, known as a buyer’s premium.

Two pairs of Muhammad Ali boxing gloves used during fights each sold for $385,848.

Executives gather in Nashville

Executives from all 30 major-league teams are in Nashville, Tenn., for the annual winter meetings.

Outfielder Josh Hamilton and pitcher Zack Greinke top the list of available free agents.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who spent freely in trading for Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford late last season, could be big spenders this week. They are on the verge of a $6 billion regional television contract.

“Our focus is on the substance of every move first,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. “We figure out the economics of it second.”

Analysts predict the Dodgers might have the first payroll of at least $200 million in National League history.

“Our primary focus is to make the team the best it can be,” Kasten said. “We can’t just do that with money. Smart beats rich. The really successful major-market teams are both smart and rich. That is what we are trying to be.”

Hockey

NHL, players change format

Traditional labor talks have made little progress in the ongoing NHL lockout, so the league and the players’ association are going to try something different in an attempt to save the season that is slipping away.

A crew of six owners will meet with a handful of players Tuesday in New York — one day before the league’s board of governors meeting — without commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Donald Fehr present. Sunday was the 78th day of the lockout.

Skiing

Vonn supplies an encore

Lindsey Vonn of Vail, Colo., is in a class by herself when it comes to women’s World Cup events at Lake Louise in Alberta.

After winning both downhills, Vonn capped a three-event sweep at the Canadian resort Sunday with a victory in the super-giant slalom. Vonn also won all three races in 2011 and this year’s victories give her 14 at Lake Louise.

Vonn won the Super-G in 1 minute, 22.82 seconds and has 56 career victories, second on the all-time list to Austrian legend Annemarie Moser-Proell’s 62. Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley, Calif., was second in the Super-G in 1:23.25.

Ligety dominates giant slalom

Ted Ligety of Park City, Utah, won the World Cup giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colo. He had a two-run time of 2:25.59 to beat runner-up Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 1.76 seconds.

Elsewhere

• Steve DeKoker, 31, a former Western Washington University runner from Tahoma High School in Covington, was second to Kenyan Jonathan Ndambuki in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon.